Omicron Case Increases, Ministry Of Transportation Reacts With Fast Action Tightening Airline Oversight Of Foreigners Arrival

JAKARTA - The case of Omicron in the country continues to grow, where the latest report from the Ministry of Health has 68 patients, which are dominated by foreign travelers. The Ministry of Transportation has also taken steps to tighten supervision of the arrival of foreign nationals (WNA) who will enter Indonesia by air.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, Adita Irawati, said that there had been no flight route closures as an effort to prevent an increase in Omicron cases in Indonesia. Even so, Adita said the government had issued an entry ban for foreigners from 13 countries that were hit by high Omicron cases to enter the country.

The 13 countries are South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Leshoto, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi, Angola, Zambia, England, Denmark and Norway. Then, continued Adita, for foreigners from other countries outside the 13 prohibited countries, the government tightened health protocols (prokes) to enter Indonesia and quarantine time.

Furthermore, Adita said, the Ministry of Transportation was also increasing its supervision at the arrival gates. One of them is the arrival gate by air, namely airports.

"What are prohibited from entering are people, foreign nationals of certain countries or foreign nationals who have traveled in these (13) countries for the last 14 days," he said when contacted by VOI, Wednesday, December 29.

Adita explained the reason why there has been no attempt to close the flight path. According to him, this is because to make a decision to close the flight route, it is necessary to discuss cross-ministerial and institutional discussions. Then, said Adita, Indonesian citizens also need to be given the freedom to return to their own country.

"Flight closures must be discussed across ministries and institutions, especially in this pandemic situation. In addition, Indonesian citizens also need to be given the opportunity to return to their own country," he said.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Health announced that the Omicron case in the country increased by 21 patients on December 29, 2021, which was dominated by foreign travelers.

"The Omicron case in Indonesia is due to travel from several countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, so people are encouraged to consider (if they wish) to take a vacation there," said Health Ministry COVID-19 Vaccination Spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi, in a written statement quoted by, Antara, Wednesday, December 29.

With these additional cases, the data on positive cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Indonesia so far have totaled 68 people.

Nadia said the 21 new cases were foreign travelers, consisting of 16 Indonesian citizens (WNI) and five foreign nationals (WNA).

The countries with the most arrivals were Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Until now, most of the Omicron cases in Indonesia are from foreign travelers.